Matt Moore of CBSSports.com on what a hard cap will do to trades: “Trades won’t stop in the NBA. But the blockbuster, multi-team, multi-player trades that have come to define each February and draft night for fans could be a thing of the past if a hard cap is introduced, as the movement within the league becomes more stagnant and difficult to manage. And for teams who have committed money to marginal stars and were looking to clear the books with an expiring-contract trade, that could have long-term effects for the future.”

Wilson Chandler signed in China yesterday and J.A. Adande writes how it’s risky: “To play is to take on risk. Playing in China is an additional risk, since he’s effectively wagering that the NBA collective bargaining agreement won’t be resolved soon. It keeps getting back to Chandler’s desire to play as much organized basketball as possible, while getting paid to do so. That’s why he will end up in China, after reports initially had him signing with Olimpia Milano in Italy.”

Interesting Grantland piece by Jonathan Abrams on the NBA’s new owners: “The vast majority of the new owners will be disappointed in the years to come. The enclave of new voices will only fortify the stance laid before them in these labor negotiations. How they develop their voices and teams in the next few years will be the most important first step. Without that, they will be hard-pressed to compete for that championship they all desire, their losses will probably compound and confound, and the cycle of new owners will likely begin again with another eager set — or as Carter would term them, ‘greater fools.'”

PBT on KD’s movie not being filmed in OKC: “Understand this: making movies is a business. A lucrative business, but a business nonetheless. The money you save on a production is money that impacts the bottom line. So rather than putting up all of “CSI: Miami” cast and crew in Miami for months at a time they film chunks of it near my Long Beach home and around Southern California. (It’s no longer weird to see Miami Dade police cars in my California neighborhood.) Anywhere they can approximate a Miami look. This is no different. But it sucks for Oklahoma City. Filming of the movie is set to start mid-September. I wish Durant having to return to his day job would screw up production, but that doesn’t seem likely.”

"All this could be incredibly bad for several entities in the NBA. It means a harder climb back to contention for teams in the gutter, as their only real options are now the draft or free agency. The small market teams are the ones fighting hardest for a hard cap to keep their costs down. But if their free agents are leaving to pursue bigger markets, and they can't trade to get better assets, all this does is strengthen the divide between them and the large market teams. The ability to trade assets is how smart teams get around market divides. Even large market teams benefit from circumventing the free agency race. Consider Dallas, who acquired four of their starters, Jason Kidd, Caron Butler, Tyson Chandler, and technically, Shawn Marion, in trade. In a system with limited trade options, the Mavericks would simply be trying to win with the same core. That's the definition of insanity."